City of Ukiah hires firm for water rate study

The city of Ukiah has hired the Reed Group of Sacramento to conduct a water rate study and explore a drought surcharge.

Public Works Director and City Engineer Tim Eriksen told the Ukiah City Council at its last meeting last month that the city had not worked with the Reed Group before, but the city's new Finance Director Karen Scalabrini "has used them before and found them to be very good."

The council approved hiring the firm at a cost of no more than $41,425.

Eriksen previously told the council that a drought surcharge would not increase the water rates, but does keep the city's revenues stable regardless of how much water residents are using.

"The surcharge keeps your bill at what you would typically use, so even if you use less because of the drought, you will be charged for the amount you typically use," Eriksen said. "And I understand how painful and controversial that is, but it really protects the ratepayers from steep increases in the future. The whole idea is so the revenues don't drop down so significantly that we have to dig our way out later."

Ukiah residents are already cutting back on their water usage, Eriksen has told the council in regular updates, explaining that typically the city uses 2 million gallons a day during the winter, but that recent usage had dropped significantly to less than 1.5 million.

The city is also planning to build a new well, No. 9, which Eriksen said "would give us another 1 million gallons a day." Another source of water the city is exploring is reclaimed or recycled water, which can be used for irrigating crops.